Road-trip Day 2 - Country Roads to Shepparton, Victoria

Having stayed at Tumut, New South Wales for a stop on our road-trip to Shepparton, we left checked out early to enjoy some breakfast before continuing on our way. On our walk to dinner the night before we had noticed a place called the Pie in the Sky Bakery thinking that it would be a lovely a country pie.

     

Pie #1

Pie #2

Unfortunately our beef and mushroom did not live up to our expectations. It was mainly filled with gelatinous goop and very little 'real'filling. Luckily though, we had hedged our bets and shared the one pie in order to compare it with one at the nearby Bakers of Tumut. This pie was definitely a step up as though the filling was a little gelatinous it did have some little chinks of beef and large slices of mushrooms. The coffee there was ok, but the breakfast overall did not compare with the high calibre of the dinner we had enjoyed in the town the night before. We weren't really complaining though as the hot pie and coffee was just what the doctor ordered on a cold and foggy winter morning. 

Foggy Roads

We took the south road out of town with direction to Holbrook. We drove through some pastoral land and some little country towns, about 10 k's away from the highway we were shooting for we saw a sign for the Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins. The fog had just lifted so it was the perfect time to stop and enjoy the views. 

The Gold Mill Ruins were unexpectedly beautiful. They were nestled in a small valley along the river and showed the ruins of a once bountiful goldmine, where at least 25 tonnes of gold were recorded as being mined there though it is possible for the actual figure to be at least double that. There were several walking tracks available ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours in duration. We took the shorter walk since it was an unscheduled stop and we weren't really dressed for hiking. 

  

 It was a great little stop, but we soon pressed on. We drove until lunch time when we arrived in the little town of Holbrook. Having done my research using the motel's wifi the night before, we headed straight for J & B's Gourmet Cafe. As soon as we walked in we spotted the special board with the Beef Brisket Pie and knew we were going to be trying that! We were very happy we did too, since at last we had found the true country pie we were looking for. It was beautiful flaky pastry with an incredible home-made beef brisket filling that was oh so satisfying. We also enjoyed their home-style ice coffee but the best thing was the service. When they brought out our pie Tim commented to the waitress that it would go very well with some gravy, she then offered to whip some up for us. She came back with some incredibly deep and rich actual, real gravy. We were both incredibly impressed.

Pie #3

Despite having very much enjoyed our light lunch we weren't about to miss out on the other main food attraction in Holbrook which is the Holbrook Bakery. The line was out the door but the beautiful smell of baked goods encouraged us to stay. When we progressed in line to be inside, we were greeted with the lovely sight of so many beautiful desserts. I had a hard time choosing but went for a classic Vanilla Slice. Tim was finding it hard to decide and wanted to ask for a recomendation He asked the baker if she would recommend the desserts or pies and she said the pies. I could hardly believe it but he went for pie #4 of the day!

Cakes @ Holbrook Bakery

Pie #4

Holbrook Bakery

Holbrook

After this lovely stop we felt completely refuelled enough to drive into Victoria at last. We were making really great time driving along the highways belting out some tunes from my ipod classic when we saw a sign that read something like "Rutherglen Historic Wine Region Scenic Route 300 meters left turn", We weren't looking out for this sign and neither of us was 100% sure of what we had just read but both agreed we had seen the key words: wine, scenic, left. At the next turn off we took a very poorly marked exit and headed to what we hoped was Victorian Wine Country. 

I was in charge of directions on the trip and was checking the GPS at regular intervals to make sure we were going the right way. After this turn off however the satellites seemed to have completely lost track of our position so we were completely unsure of where we were going. Two detours later, we eventually made it to the town of Rutherglen and the Information centre we had seen signalled a while back. The lady inside was a little too helpful since she starrted off by saying that the wineries would close in hour but when we asked which she would visit if time was limited she wanted to give us the history of each of the many estates. Her colleague seemed to read us a little better and butted in to her dismay to say we just wanted to go before they closed. Damn right we did! We hightailed it out of there en route to what was described as their number 1 winery, the aptly named Campbell's Wines. Tim was pretty happy with our choice, since he works for Campbell's Soup. We arrived at a luxurious estate amongst the vineyards and were very impressed with both their reds and fortified wines which we learnt is what the area is famous for, especially those made from the Durif grape. We left with our wallets a little lighter but our car definitely a lot heavier.

Campbell's Winery

Campbell's Vineyards

After leaving Campbell's we thought we might have time to duck into another nearby winery which was Stanton & Killeen Wines. As with Campbell's winery we liked that it was staffed by members of the family who were very knowledgeable about their products and processed. We had a lovely chat with the people there and bought some of their wine too. What most impressed us is that they have just planted Albariño grapes at their estate which will give fruit in three years. Albariño is a very popular wine in Spain (and Portugal) and I for one am very much a big fan of it and am very excited to see how it their harvest / wine turns out for them. It was such a lovely experience that I was very glad we had stopped there before they closed!

Stanton & Killeen Winery

After our very merry detour of Rutherglen, it was time to hit the road in earnest and we drove all the way down to our accomodation in Shepparton. After a great day, we were happy to arrive at our destination at last. Dinner that night was a quick bite at a local pub and then an early night's sleep. Tim would be working all week but I would be getting to know the town and just enjoying myself on a country escape!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin With Asian Greens

This was one of the best things I've ever cooked, or so Tim thought!
It's super easy to prepare, but bursting with delicious flavours. 
This recipe can be easily adapted based on your taste or what you have on hand! That is what I did myself actually. The original recipe that I drew my inspiration from can be found here. But I think mine turned out better ;-)

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

1 medium sized pork tenderloin

1 small bunch shallots, sliced (half for marinade, half for serving)

1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped (half for marinade, half for serving)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed (or other oil as preferred)

2 tablespoons Zhenjian Black Chinese Vinegar

2 tablespoons chilli garlic sauce (or preferred spicy sauce)

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method

1. Trim excess fat from pork.

2. In large plastic ziploc bag mix all the other ingredients together, reserving half the shallots and corriander for serving. Mix well.

3. Place whole pork tenderloin in bag and seal. Let marinade in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight for best results (I have done it for as little as 2 hours). Turn occasionally so as to coat both sides. Do not worry if coconut oil clumps, it will melt in oven. 

4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

5. Once heated, place pork on a greased pan together will all the marinade and cook for approximately 35 minutes, so that it does not bleed when poked with a knife. 

6. Let rest outside of the oven for approximately 10 minutes.

7. Slice the pork into thin slices, served drizzled with the pan juices and topped with fresh chopped shallots and coriander. 

We serve it on a bed of rice with a side of delicious Asian Greens.

Quick Asian Greens

Ingredients 

1 bunch bok choy (or preferred Asian greens)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon chilli garlic sauce

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or preferred oil)

Method

1. Wash and dry bok choy thoroughly, chop in half lengthways.

2. Heat oil in a large fry pan or wok. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 1 minute, or until fragrant. 

3. Add the bok choy, soy sauce and chilli garlic sauce to the pan. 

4. Mix thoroughly until combined and cook until vegetables are just wilted but still have some 'bite'.

Serve and enjoy!

The Hudson Valley, New York

The very first weekend following my arrival in the States, Tim and I went on a road trip up the Hudson Valley. This area is renown as being most beautiful in the fall and though we were going on the tail-end of the season,  it was a beautiful time to go. All the trees seem to be alight and varied on a colour palette ranging from burnt orange to charred red and stinkingly bright yellow. 

We set off on Friday night, after Tim finished work. Our first stop was dinner at Americana Diner which really exceeded our expectations. We were super impressed with our order of the Table Sample for Two which includes Fried Mozzarella, Calamari, Lamb Koftas and Smoked Salmon; the Grass Fed Beef Sliders on home made Brioche; and the Pulled Pork Soft Tacos with chili and cilantro (coriander) salad. Then to drink Tim had the Pear and Rosemary Spritzer (virgin) and I had a delicious Cranberry Margarita, followed by espressos all round (not the best but sadly usual for American Coffee).

Being so well fed and watered we were fuelled up to brave the New York traffic and didn't mind the late drive as we blasted the radio where all the DJs seemed to have colluded to play only Magic's Rude and Taylor Swifts Shake It Off across all stations for the duration of the drive.

Eventually we made it up to the Fairfield Inn Spring Valley Nanuet only teetering on the edge of insanity and thankfully able to finally stop that incessant racket on the wireless. It was a late hour, maybe around midnight and we were tired from the drive as we approached the check in desk. I left it to Tim but felt that it was taking too long for them to hand over the damn keys already so I got a little closer and realised that they were stuck on the reservation name. The man was saying "Sorry you're reservation is not in the system" and Tim was getting visibly annoyed asking him to check again under the name Lee, L-E-E. The man repeated it back ok L-A-A where I interjected no L-E-E as in E for EGG, Tim then gently tried to get in front of me possibly fearing for the man's safety if I managed to get closer to him. Then Tim goes for the assimilation tactic and says L-EEEE-EEEEE and the man goes oh L-EEEE-EEEEE, why didn't you say so! I just walked away thinking "he's not worth it...".

After this drama we walked into a very comfortable suite and honestly slept very well. They even have this great thing where you don't need to check out any more so we didn't have to talk to Mr. EEEEE again which was a bonus. With this we were on our way to the lovely little town of Nyack at the base of the Hudson River for breakfast. First we made a little detour at their farmers market, which while very small was charming. We weren't sure where exactly to eat so we asked some locals. The locale they recommended was obviously good since it was completely booked. Luckily there was a little cottage café a few houses down that we decided to try instead.

The place is called the Art Café and it is really very cute with very good classic café meets Jewish cuisine. I ordered the Ricotta Pancakes with berries and date honey (yum!) and Tim got the Sabich which is a thick pita pocket filled with boiled egg, home made hummus, pickles, eggplant, cherry tomato and red onions. Both recommendations and both delicious. So after yet another yummy and very filling meal I was getting the idea that I would not be staying in quite the same shape that I had arrived to America in, but oh well, you only live once!

After this we jumped back in the car and were driving through Tarrytown, we were one week away from Halloween at this point and realised we were about to drive past the cemetery surrounding the legend of Sleepy Hollow (thanks GPS for the great info) and decided that this serendipitous moment should not be squandered and had a good old wander amongst the graves. Look at some of our happy snaps.

After this we wanted to make some headway so we drove for quite awhile until it was time for a late lunch. Then we stopped at Farm to Table in Fishkill. Here we had one great and one not so great dish. Tim ordered the Coq au Vin which was absolutely fabulous, but sadly my Prince Edward Island Mussels were a real let down. It felt like they were either baby mussels, picked too young or else severely malnourished adult mussels that led a hard life before their unfortunate capture and ensuing delivery onto my plate. Maybe it's because in Australia we have such big and juicy Mussels and I am just spoilt but as I say, just give these a miss if you are there and stick to the chicken. But one thing I must add is that our server was incredibly helpful and friendly. He gave us lots of great info on the area and some great suggestions on where to go next.

So thanks to our server we were then on our way to the Walkway over the Hudson. This is the longest elevated pedestrian walkway in the world and offers beautiful views of both the Hudson River and the Valley surrounding it. A great free attraction not to be missed if you are in the area.

It was starting to get dark at this point but we had one last meal to squeeze in before heading back. We made our way to the hipster town of New Paltz, as suggested by our waiter. We worked up an apetite by browsing the many antique / gift / quirky stores and then decided on Indian for dinner. We found Suruchi tucked away behind the main street and saw that it had rave reviews online so we gave it a go. We walked in and the place looked packed, but still we asked if they had any tables. They said "Yes, if you don't mind sitting close together". It was a little alcove for one really but since it smelt so good in there we decided to literally squeeze in like we were human tetris pieces. Patrons at other tables watched and giggled at us, but we were undeterred at this point. We eventually ordered a few plates and while we waited they brought papadams and spicy dipping sauces. "Oh nice", we thought and munched away. Not realising that we should have conserved this food like people in a life raft that know they have to make it last. The food took about 2 hours to to be served. We were only a little hungry when we got to the restaurant but after about an hour or so I was feeling ravenous. We toyed with the idea of leaving, but from our earlier exploration of town we had seen that everywhere gets packed out on Saturday night and we feared we would just be waiting at a different place if we left. And surely the food couldn't be that far away could it? We did ask the waitress at this point, who apologised and explained that they don't usually get so busy... hmmm... not really knowing what to make of that answer we had to just wait this one out....

Once the food finally arrived, I had no complaints about its authenticity or flavour. It was great, we just wished we hadn't had to wait quite so long for it. 

So on that note, we were away and heading back to Cherry Hill and commenting on what a great success our first Road trip in the USA had been.